Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales
Review
Great graphics and sounds make this an immersive experience
by Marko Susimetsä
reviewed on PC
Getting around in the Caribbean
Getting around in the towns and aboard ships after you board them, is done in third person view. Looking at your character from behind, you can swivel the mouse to turn your character around, while moving him/her with the classic wasd keys. The basic setting is for the character to run around. If you want to make him/her walk, you have to hold down the shift key. In the beginning of the game, you probably explore the towns and settlements by running around in them and trying to get inside many of the buildings. Unfortunately, there are usually only three buildings that you can actually enter: the tavern, shipwright and the store. All other buildings, including the bank, are closed - even during daytime. You'll soon start using the quick commands to move directly from one facility to the next, without needing to run in the cities - especially when you start on the pier and your trusty but not too clever fighters block your way to the shore.
The wasd keys are also used when you enter the overhead view of the Caribbean and sail your ship between the islands. You can either zoom out to get a fuller picture of where you are in relation to the islands, or zoom in to take a good look at the other ships that you pass on the way. You will see lots of other ships, such as national patrols, trading ships and pirates. You can also encounter ongoing battles that you may want to join if one of the parties happens to be friendly with you. I wouldn't really recommend joining a battle where both sides hate your guts. All in all, the shipping lanes seem pretty crowded - more so than they must have been historically. Of course, the quick commands are used here on the lower levels as well and you can quickly sail to your chosen destination.
There are some more peculiar situations in the game where the normal wasd keys don't work the way you would expect. When you are holding your telescope aboard your ship, you still control the ship with the wasd keys and therefore you have to move your character (in first person, this time) with the left and right button of your mouse, which makes the whole process of using your telescope somewhat of a chore.
Fire as they bear!
The wasd keys are also used to control the ship when you sail in the vicinity of the islands and in ship battles, but naturally you only use the mouse to swivel the view around to get the best possible view of your enemies so that you can angle up with them correctly for your broadsides or other manoeuvres. This part of the game is probably where the most fun is to be had, as you can outwit your enemies with clever manoeuvres when you know the abilities of your ship like the back of your hand. The quick commands can also be used here, if you play on the easier difficulties, to move between ships in the battle, without you having to actually sail to them. Of course, such carelessness will easily result in collisions that will most probably take you both into Davy Jones' locker.
When you have manoeuvred close enough to an enemy ship, you can board it and fight your way to the captain's cabin (unless the ship surrenders immediately). These cabins are larger than life (really, they were never really this big and roomy!) and give you lots of room to fight your enemy. Once you have defeated the enemy captain, you get to loot the cabin and make away with the money and special items. What about the ship, then? Well, you can either sink it to the bottom of the abyss, take it as your flag ship (switch ships) or give it to one of your free officers.
You can also attack towns, but this is only for the truly stout-hearted sea dogs who have a fleet of ships at their command. You first have to attack the town fort, destroying all its cannons and as many of the defenders as possible before you attack the fort on foot. There are no fancy manoeuvres like sneaking in with a small group of men and blowing up the garrison, unfortunately. It is all-out battle the whole way and you have to kill the defenders to the last man before the town is yours to plunder or keep.
Colony management
Once you have captured a town, you assign one of your officers to take charge of it. It is usually a good idea to have someone around with well-rounded skills and abilities that you can trust these responsibilities to. You should also leave a good portion of your crew with the governor to protect the colony from those who might want to recapture it for themselves. If all goes well, you can develop the settlement by building and strengthening its defenses and its infrastructure and start building up your nation by adding even more colonies to it!
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
